"Beginning at the End..."

The end of the school year marks the beginning of opportunities, responsibilities, trials, joys, failures, and transformations--in short, it is the beginning of another season of life in which to witness and praise the steadfast love and faithfulness of our heavenly Father.

Plans for summer (James 4:13-17):
___1. Begin multiple class proposals. I want to propose Greek and theology courses for the STAR program. This means that I should think about 'how' and 'what' I should teach high school students... James 3:1 comes to mind.
___2. Continue to be rooted in my discipline (i.e. read books by prominent scholars [I am looking into John Webster], listen to lectures, read scholarly articles, etc.). I also have the opportunity to serve as a research assistant for one of my professors but I am not sure if I should make the time commitment...
___3. Look into graduate programs...I may attend Talbot and get a masters in OT or NT. Other options include: St. Vladimir's Seminary (NY); Catholic University of America (Washington DC); St. John's School of Theology (MN); St. Louis University (MO); Fordum (NY); Saint Andrews (Scotland); and the University of Aberdeen (Scotland).
___4. Take Apostolic Fathers: I am in an Apostolic Fathers course over this summer.
___5. Prepare for next semester: Read the Summa before school starts (haha!), read the Apocrypha, start a research paper for one of my classes next semester...get the syllabus for each class so I know what I am in for...then move forward.
___6. Most importantly, I want to become a better hearer of the Gospel and continue to deepen in intimacy with our heavenly Father. I have felt that I have grown increasingly selfish, proud, sad, angry, presumptuous, and unintentional. I look forward to learning how to worship God more deeply, hear His voice more clearly, and know the Gospel more fully. So, I will leave you with a quotation on the same topic:

"Rightly understood, spiritual care has a pedagogical character; but in service
to the gospel its only goal can be new and right hearing of the sermon.
Spiritual care does not want to bring about competence, build character, or
produce certain types of persons. Instead it uncovers sin and creates hearers of
the gospel." (Bonhoeffer, Spiritual Care, 32)

Although I would not say that spiritual care is entirely disinterested with being formed by God into being a whole and virtuous person, I would agree that its main purpose is to create hearers of the gospel. I hope that this summer we will learn to be better hearers of the gospel of our Savior. (One passage that I have been seeking to hear more fully is Matthew 25:31-46. What passage/verse/book have you been trying to hear more fully?)

I wonder... #22

I wonder...

How many people read the OT and subconsciously/implicitly think God is legalistic? Do our theological categories allow us to understand the Mosaic law in any other way?

Legalism has developed into a sort of trump card in Protestant circles and it has been used rather frequently (and I would say, 'recklessly') against tradition, structured liturgy, church government, dogma, etc. If any practice or view can possibly be called "legalistic" (that is, if its execution, premises, or conclusions can be easily misconstrued as "works based" salvation) it is not worth trying to understand on its own terms--however, there is often not much care put into defining legalism, let alone properly identifying it. In most of the cases I have seen, I think that the accuser conflates perfectly neutral things (i.e. tradition, dogma, etc.) with a legalistic motivation.

I wholeheartedly agree with Paul when he says that we are saved by grace through faith. Grace must remain grace ("But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace." Romans 11:6)! Men are justified by faith alone--which is to say that no deeds will save a man or contribute to the atonement that Christ had made for our sins, or add to His righteousness. Yet, we are created in Christ Jesus for good works, and the very nature of saving faith is that of a synergism between doctrinal confession and obedience (see James). Even Luther said that though we are saved by faith alone, faith alone is not saving faith.

So what is legalism? Where does it start?

How do you understand the law? Can you sing Psalms 1, 19, and 119 about the Torah without being legalistic?

(Really, I do want your opinions. How do you read the OT? How do you view the relationship between the NT and OT?)